A Battleship is a jump-capable capital ship intended to stand in the line-of-battle in space combat. Battleships are usually supported by cruisers, which stiffen the flanks of the line-of-battle. Battleships tend to be very large vessels often a hundred thousand tons are more. They require numerous crew, vast resources, and enormous costs. Yet, nothing can replace a battleship and the overwhelming power of its spinal mount on the interstellar battlefield.

CONFUSING TERMINOLOGY: The terms are widely exchangeable. Some navies use it to indicate an older battleship, while others use it interchangeably with the term battleship. In Imperial Navy parlance, some of this ambiguity is kept, but the terms are mostly used with the following connotations:

Battleships focus on heavy gun armament, which is to say spinal mounts. They tend to carry lesser armor than a comparable dreadnought. Battleships tend to be faster platforms as well, with more strategic mobility and larger maneuver drives. Battleships tend to be multi-purpose platforms while dreadnoughts focus on anti-shipping missions.

Dreadnoughts focus on heavy armor and protection, but may be from older generations of vessels before spinal mounts were developed and perfected. Many of them were not originally equipped with spinal mounts and had to later be retrofitted with them. Dreadnoughts tend to be slower, with smaller jump drives (...thus less strategic mobility) and maneuver drives. Dreadnoughts, as a generality, are specialized to focus on anti-shipping missions as in destroying other line combatants.

As an aside, the very largest, most capable, hard-hitting vessel in a navy is often nicknamed a dreadnought.

The power of the Imperial Navy is concentrated in its battleships. The definition of a battleship is a starship which, due to its armament and protection, is capable of standing in the line of battle. When a battleship meets any lesser type of ship, its victory is almost guaranteed. When battleships on two sides meet, victory goes to the better armed, better armored, and better directed ship.

Two opposite views in naval architecture have dominated the design of the major battleships of space navies:

BATTLESHIP CONCEPT: The battleship concept involves large, well-armed and armoured starships of massive tonnage, capable of meeting any adversary. Armament and protection are appropriate to this mission. They generally have little better primary armament than cruisers. However, their extensive secondary batteries render them virtually immune to missiles and small craft attack, while their bulk provides a tremendous ability to absorb damage and keep fighting. Moreover, in a battle against a superior force, the battleship can flee combat by using its own jump drives.

BATTLERIDER CONCEPT: The opposite is the battle rider concept, involving a large jump-capable battle tender carrying a complete Battle Squadron (BatRon) of two to ten heavily armed and armoured non-jump-capable battle riders. The Battle Tender strategy does not allow for the possibility of superior force; no matter how good a rider is, if it meets a superior adversary, it is placed in a position of winning or dying. Retreat is nearly impossible without losses.

The technological basis for Imperial battleships is the BB- 11. From it was developed the BB-12 and then the BB-13. Battleships are representative of the rest of the vessels of this category. They are both heavily armed and armored and are considered the backbone of any naval force. They are strong enough to take enormous damage and still act effectively. On the downside, like the heavy battleship they are resource hogs, and the maintenance burden is significant.

Line battleships are flexible combat vessels built to operate independently or in groups as part of a concerted strategy. In other words, they do it all with an emphasis on destroying enemy fleets. Many also vary fighter squadrons, planetary bombardment weaponry, specialized sensors, extensive onboard facilities, and a variety of other equipment. Line battleships show the flag wherever they go.

The Strike designation is typically associated with a vessel having a long jump and/or a high maneuver capability. Often the term is an unofficial designation associated with new, faster construction. These vessels are based strongly on light battleship designs, with enhanced mobility attributes.

The heavy battleship has been called a number of names, such as superbattleship, or more commonly dreadnought. Although many were developed from independent designs, a number were logical extension of the earlier battleship lines. Some militaries, including the Imperial Navy, use the designation of dreadnought to designate its latest, most-effective battleships, and may redesignate them simply as battleships when their superior abilities are supplanted by newer construction. These ships represent the ultimate projection of naval power, and their power often dwarfs other ships. As such, their construction represents a tremendous outlay of resources in materials, and manpower.

The light battleship line is based on the BB-12, but showed great innovation in producing a smaller tonnage vessel. The BS-15 is also a member of this line. This class of vessel is an attempt to field a ship with most of the offensive weight of a battleship, but to try to hold down the cost associated with building and maintaining such a vessel.

The Battle Rider system was developed in an attempt to produce battleship strength vessels in greater numbers. The BT/R-14 system combines non-jump battle riders with a jump capable battle tender. The BT/R-15 system is an evolution of the BT/R-14. Although the battle rider is a non-jump capable vessel, it is otherwise armed and armored like a battleship. With the elimination of the jump drives and the associated controls and power plant support, the internal space can be reallocated to additional armor, weaponry, or agility. On a ship to ship basis, battle riders normally have superior combat capabilities compared to jump-capable battleships of similar tonnage, but they, of course, lack the ability to retreat from a system without their tender. Due to the battle riders need for battle tenders for transportation between star systems, the battle tender tends to be the largest vulnerability of battle rider system. Elimination of the lightly armor tender removes battle riders strategic flexibility, isolating them to their current system.

The Battle Rider Hybrid takes the battle rider system one step further and places a battle rider on a battleship for combat support deployment. This design is a hybrid of the BT/R-15 system and the BL-15. This change addresses the greatest weakness associated with the battle rider/battle tender system.

Z = Special

E = Experimental

B = Battleship

NOTES: There is semantic overlap between many of the classes and codes. Some codes organize by mission or capability, others by size and tonnage, and yet others by other characteristics.

The battleships of the Imperium are designed to overcome any opponent in battle. As technology advances, these designs also advance, both to take advantage of any possible technological benefits, and to experiment with new strategies and construction techniques.